A Little Drunkard of Spirit City
Spirit City.
Awakening Hall.
Daybreak just arrived, and people were already lined up outside the hall.
Today was the day of the Martial Soul Awakening.
Six-year-old children stood in a row; some were so nervous their faces turned pale, some grabbed their parents' clothes and refused to let go, and others peeked into the hall, their eyes full of anticipation.
On the Douluo Continent, the Martial Soul Awakening was the first threshold.
Walk past it, and one might become a Soul Master.
Fail to cross it, and most would only be able to live as ordinary people in the future.
Therefore, no one dared to make a scene outside the hall.
Yet today's Awakening Hall was even quieter than in previous years.
Because sitting inside the hall were several powerful figures who rarely showed themselves ordinarily.
Azure Luan Douluo sat in the side hall, a cup of cold tea placed beside his hand.
Ling Yuan Douluo leaned against a jade pillar, her fingers tapping against her arm without any particular rhythm.
Chrysanthemum Douluo Yue Guan stood on the other side, holding a small golden flower between his fingertips.
Ghost Douluo did not speak, his shadow falling in the corner of the wall.
Several Red Cardinals lowered their heads, making their breathing even lighter.
With this kind of formation, if it were ordinary children, their legs would have turned to jelly long ago.
Yet today, the child who should have arrived the most had not yet come.
A Red Cardinal checked the time and could not help asking in a low voice, "Where is Yuan Yu?"
Ling Yuan Douluo's face darkened.
Chrysanthemum Douluo smiled.
"Where else could he be? Either he's climbing walls, or he's stealing wine."
Azure Luan Douluo raised his eyes to look at him.
Chrysanthemum Douluo stopped smiling and gave a light cough.
"I was just saying it casually."
Yet everyone knew that what he said was close to the truth.
The name Yuan Yu was too well-recognized in Spirit City.
An orphan raised by the Worship Hall.
He looked fair and clean, his eyes would curve whenever he smiled, and he called out intimately to whoever he saw.
Yet when it came to causing trouble, he truly did not hold back.
At age three, he climbed the roof of the Worship Hall, saying he wanted to see if the clouds tasted sweet.
At age four, he watered Chrysanthemum Douluo's flower beds into a pond, also saying flowers needed to learn how to swim.
At age five, he hugged Qian Daoliu's wine jar and fell asleep at the hall entrance, his first words upon waking being, "Great Enshrined, this wine is a bit spicy."
If it were any other child, they would have long been punished and dared not step outside.
Yet he was Yuan Yu.
Ling Yuan always said every day she would beat him up, but in the end, she merely dragged him back.
Azure Luan looked cold, yet every time Yuan Yu was punished, he was the one who had hangover soup prepared.
Even over at the Papal Hall, Yuan Yu dared to go.
When he was young, he hugged his tea and ran over to Bibi Dong, saying, "Teacher, drink something warm, and your heart won't feel so cold."
That day, the Papal Hall was frighteningly quiet.
Bibi Dong did not take the tea.
Nor did she drive him out.
That was enough.
The bell outside the hall rang three times.
Ling Yuan Douluo could not hold back anymore.
"I'll go find him."
Just as she was about to move, the sound of hurried footsteps came from outside the hall doors.
The next instant, the doors were pushed open.
A white-clad young boy was hauled in by the back of his collar, lifted by Ling Yuan.
The boy looked to be about six years old, his black hair somewhat messy, his cheeks slightly flushed, and he tightly clutched a small wine gourd in his arms.
Even with his toes off the ground, he did not forget to wave at the people inside the hall.
"Morning, everyone."
After he finished speaking, he even let out a drunken hiccup.
Hiccup.
The hall fell silent for a moment.
The row of children outside stared in complete shock.
A Red Cardinal's mouth twitched.
Today was the Martial Soul Awakening.
Such a major day.
And he was drunk?
Ling Yuan put Yuan Yu down on the ground, raised her hand, and knocked him on the forehead once.
"When I found you by the pond in the backyard, you were hugging a wine jar and chatting with the fish."
Yuan Yu rubbed his forehead, looking very aggrieved.
"That fish stared at me first."
"What did it stare at you for?"
"Stared at how good-looking I am."
Chrysanthemum Douluo could not help it and burst out laughing.
Ghost Douluo stood in the corner, his shoulders also moving slightly.
Azure Luan Douluo looked over.
Yuan Yu immediately stood straight and hid the wine gourd behind his back.
"Grandpa Azure Luan, I really didn't drink much."
Azure Luan said indifferently, "You said the same thing last time."
Yuan Yu muttered softly, "Last time, the jar was too big."
Ling Yuan raised her hand again.
Yuan Yu immediately shut his mouth.
The Red Cardinal had a bit of a headache.
He had seen nervous children, crying children, and children who spouted nonsense before the awakening.
Coming to awaken while drunk was truly a first.
Deep within the side hall, a steady voice came from behind the golden curtains.
"Begin."
It was Qian Daoliu.
Everyone in the hall immediately stopped smiling.
The Red Cardinal stepped forward, took out six black Awakening Stones, and arranged them into a hexagonal formation.
He looked at Yuan Yu, trying to keep his voice as gentle as possible.
"Yuan Yu, step inside."
Yuan Yu hugged his wine gourd and walked forward.
Just as he took two steps, Ling Yuan reached out.
"Give me the gourd."
Yuan Yu instantly perked up.
"It's keeping my courage up."
Ling Yuan raised an eyebrow, "You need courage?"
"What if I awaken a wine jar martial soul?"
"Then I'll stuff you into the jar."
Yuan Yu sighed and reluctantly handed over the wine gourd.
"The mortal world is not worth it."
Several children nearby held back their laughter until their faces turned red.
The Red Cardinal almost burst out laughing as well.
He took a deep breath and poured his Soul Power into the Awakening Stones.
Golden light rose.
Yuan Yu stood in the center of the formation, the drunkenness on his face slowly dissipating.
Points of light surged from all directions, drilling into his palms, bones, and blood.
He looked down at his hands.
A little warm.
And a little cold.
A very soft blade hum also rang in his head.
It was like someone was calling him from far away.
The Red Cardinal said, "Don't be afraid, feel it, and summon your Martial Soul."
Yuan Yu closed his eyes.
The next breath, all the lamps in the Awakening Hall extinguished simultaneously.
The children cried out in alarm.
The Red Cardinal's expression changed.
Azure Luan Douluo stood up.
Behind the curtain, Qian Daoliu's hand pressed onto the armrest.
In the darkness, a speck of white light lit up in Yuan Yu's palm.
That light was not large.
Yet it was very sharp.
Like the first flash of a blade before dawn.
Yuan Yu opened his eyes.
A slender blade slowly took shape in his palm.
The blade body was silver-white, with faint golden fine lines on the back of the blade.
The blade hum suddenly exploded.
Hum!
The entire Awakening Hall shook along with it.
Outside the hall, the weapons in the hands of quite a few tool Soul Masters in Spirit City trembled simultaneously.
Someone gripped a long spear tightly.
Someone looked down at a saber.
And temple-guarding knights subconsciously pressed against their swords.
They did not know what had happened.
They only knew their Martial Souls had just seemed to lower their heads toward some kind of weapon.
Inside the Awakening Hall, Yuan Yu looked at the blade in his hand and blinked.
"Is this my Martial Soul?"
Ling Yuan stared at that blade, her gaze changing.
Chrysanthemum Douluo stopped smiling, too.
Azure Luan Douluo stepped closer.
"Hold it steady."
Yuan Yu looked at him, "What happens if I can't hold it steady?"
Azure Luan said, "You'll be dragged along by it instead."
Yuan Yu said quietly, "Then its temper isn't very good."
No one answered.
Because on the blade body, nine extremely faint patterns were lighting up inch by inch.
That group of children outside the hall also saw the light.
They did not understand what that was, only feeling that the moment that blade came out, the Martial Soul imprints on the palms of their own hands grew hot along with it.
A child who had just awakened a small knife Martial Soul looked down at his hand, then secretly looked at Yuan Yu, his face full of bewilderment.
Both were knives.
The gap was simply too far.
The Red Cardinal was even more nervous.
He had presided over many awakenings, having seen good Martial Souls and also seen trash Martial Souls.
Yet he had never seen a Martial Soul emerge that could make the entire Awakening Hall vibrate in its wake.